14-03-2002 11:00 pm Paris - UNESCO Director-General Ko´chiro Matsuura today deplored the death of Italian news photographer Raffaele Ciriello from Israeli gunfire in the Palestinian West Bank city of Ramallah. "Raffaele Ciriello is reportedly the first journalist to die in the spiralling violence of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in which the press, both local and international, has been meeting considerable difficulties in exercising its professional duties," Mr Matsuura said.

"I call on all parties to respect the inalienable right of the media to exercise their profession freely and safely," the Director-General added. "Press freedom is an essential component of democracy and must not be targeted by the belligerents."